Pregnancy Week 23: Update

I just wrapped up my 23rd week of pregnancy which means I’m officially 6 months pregnant. That’s absolutely nuts. My sense of time is totally out of whack. I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever AND like I just took that silly little pee test. Birth feels a million light years away AND like I don’t have enough time to get everything done before July. Pregnancy. So weird.

Here’s a little update on how my human-growing is going.

Fun/Weird/New Symptoms:

Fun with Hair

Most people know that in pregnancy, your hair and nails grow super fast. What I did not anticipate was the complete lack of hair on my legs! Can this be forever? I mean, I’m not typically a very hairy person. I have very fine, blond hair on my legs until the shin/calf area. Then it’s the kind that requires regular maintenance… until NOW! It’s like a superpower. Hairless legs. I’m into it.

Baby Moves!

This little guy has finally gotten big enough for me to feel his movements! It’s really fun to feel him tossing and turning. The past few weeks have been pretty mellow as far as “pregnancy” symptoms are concerned… I think I could probably forget he was in there if he didn’t nudge me all the time. That and my enormous midsection.

Braxton Hicks Contractions

These movements aren’t so fun. I know it’s just my uterus toning and getting ready for the MAIN EVENT, but it’s really disconcerting to feel your guts just gather up into a tight ball at random times. I’m not a fan.

I’ve still been trying to maintain my plan of 3x weekly strength circuits and 4x weekly yoga practice. It’s been pretty easy to stick to that, especially with my YogaGlo membership. I also walk everyday (I shoot for about 5 miles a day, roughly 10,000 steps.)

In the coming months I’d really like to start getting my cardiovascular system in better shape. My strength circuits are slower pace because I try to maintain really good form and my neighborhood is super flat so I don’t get the added challenge of hill climbs to get my heart rate up. So I’m hoping to get out to the local trails more often to work on my endurance. I have a feeling I’m going to need some come July.

Nutrition:

I have felt my appetite ramp up a bit in the past few weeks, so I’ve definitely been eating a little bit more.

Most of my meals follow a pretty “paleo” template, but I have been enjoying some Canyon Bakehouse Gluten-Free Bread with my eggs or with some meat for lunch.

One of my new favorite foods is Whole Earth and Sea Pure Vegan Bars. They have 16 g of plant protein coming from pea protein and Sacha Inchi. These are actually pretty low inflammatory vegetarian proteins for me personally (as opposed to brown rice or whey). I also like the superfoods included like spirulina, broccoli sprouts, and chia seeds. I found these at Sprouts on sale, but now they’re back to their usual $3.50 price tag. So pricey, but in this case, you get what you pay for. I’ve also seen a different version with 15 g. of protein and filled with a less ideal protein source. Hopefully they changed their formula the right way or else I’ll be back to searching for a different quality bar.

Miscellaneous Baby Things

Baby Nursery

Actually starting to plan baby shower/baby nursery stuff via pinterest. Trying to put together a registry was a trip… Holy Cow. How many things does a baby need? I should just register for all the things I will need while sitting around breastfeeding 24/7.

Maternity Clothes

Aside from my new giant bras, I’m not wearing maternity clothes yet, but I DID go on a little shopping spree last week to get some stuff for that special day when nothing fits me and I feel like a sausage stuffed in all my clothes. I also got a new bathing suit top so my sunbathing is PG rated.